Very beautiful sounding synth. The pads and strings sound like they came from heaven. Great chorus. The filter sweeps are also strong. It's sad that this synth is clearly so poorly regarded. Loads of great tracks feature it. I bet people think though sounds come from another keyboard of the time like the polymoog or something. ARP strings are the best. This is a special piece of kit. If only people would realise that.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-May-10-2002 at 15:35

Chris L
a professional user
from London
writes:

Generally, not a bad old synth. The sounds are obviously very 70s. Great bass, very low and powerful. The string sounds are also very strong. I've had a solina and an Omni 2 side by side to compare. They sure sound the same to me. I suspect that internally the string circuitry is very similar, if not the same. The polysynth section is a little limited but highly distinctive. Most of what this synth does it does quite well. Better than its contemporaries like the dreadful polymoog. Very strong construction..a full metal jacket. A lot of 70s recordings feature this synth. If you want an authentic 70s analogue polysynth sound, this will do the job. It's not a faddish bloops and bleeps machine (thankfully!) Rather, a polyphonic pads and strings machine that always sounds thick and distinctive. It can over-dominate a track unless you are careful. I think it sounds great and, therefore, don't care.

Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Monday-Apr-29-2002 at 05:01

SH
a professional user
from U S of A
writes:

I am a well known Keyboardist from the 70's, I toured with a British Band for 3 years, Our total sound and image was created with the ARP Omni 2, I still have 1 left from 3 I played on stage and for recording on 4 album's, The Omni has a Heavenly Eerie Spacy sound that will make you wish you were Inside this machine, The Hold feature was used so much that I wanted it circulating in every song,But did not want to produce Overkill. The Roland RS09 Strings and Organ is the only other Strings that comes close to the Omni 2, For the prices on Ebay these days and the availability, I would recommend all musician's to keep one of these historical Keyboard's in the mix and in everyone's minds.The Steve Hillage Band was a firm beliver in the Omni 2, There songs sound soo cool because of there multiple uses of the Omni 2's. There TRULY is no other like it....

posted Saturday-Mar-02-2002 at 12:35

john
a hobbyist user
from Canada eh!
writes:

I own a 1975 Omni MK1. I think that it is one of the coolest synthesizers I have ever heard. Not because it is midi or even CV capable (cause it isn't) but because it sounds so sweet. I have recently had mine fixed, because it died suddenly and had developed a drone. Apparently the old capacitors are starting to fail. I still believe that there is room in every song for Arp strings. I think you can spot one in the video for Babe by Styx and in The new kid in town by The Eagles. Someone I was talking to the other day called it an old noisy piece of junk.....Not at all. Maybe I am a romantic, but the old omni has a character unto itself. And let's not forget that the synth section is pretty cool. A bit of reverb and instant vangelis. I have a pic of him in a rock encyclopedia posing with his Omni. Not bad. I love my omni!

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Dec-11-2000 at 16:03

T.S.
a part-time user
from U.S.A.
writes:

cool analog polyphonic pads, useless for any power synth stuff. has a creepy overall sound to it. sounds great in the mix but on its own it's kinda weak.